WATCH: chief constable says £320k spent on Loughinisland journos case
George Hamilton defends PSNI actions
The chief constable has revealed around £320,000 was spent taking a failed case against two journalists.
Trevor Birney and Bary McCaffrey were arrested last year and pursued through the courts over material allegedly stolen from the Police Ombudsman's office.
It featured in their documentary about the Loughinisland massacre.
Earlier this week the case was dropped after police searches were ruled unlawful
But George Hamilton has defended the PSNI's actions.
“The current operational costs between both Durham and PSNI support to Durham is somewhere in the region of £320,000,” he said
“I think it would have been entirely inappropriate to say secret material – gone missing – going to be difficult
It will be taking on journalism – don’t like that and it’s going to cost £300,000 as well so we’ll just prioritise it out on that basis
“From an ethics from a value perspective that wasn’t going to happen."